Hydraulic steering system



Aug. 26, 1952 m- 2,608,060

HYDRAULIC STEERING SYSTEM Filed May 9, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET l INVENTOR.

f/QA/wz AC 5441714,

HTTQQNEX Aug. 26, 1952 F. H. SMITH 2,608,060

HYDRAULIC STEERING SYSTEM Filed May 9, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 umqgPatented Aug. 26, 1952 HYDRAULIC. STEERING SYSTEM Frank Harold Smith,Los Angeles, Califl, assignor ofone-half to James H. Mitchell, LosAngeles,

' Calif.

Application May 9, 1949, Serial No. 92,187

3 Claims. (01. 60-545) invention relatesto ,a'hydraulic motionran mitt ss tem n mbr particularly re+ lates to such a system adapted for use insteering a vessel.

Hydraulic systems have been used in the past r transmitting motion,including rotational motion, for steering vessels. However, the cost ofsuch a system and its bulk have heretofore made it impracticable tobeincorporatedinto the design of small boats and thus to take advantageof the flexibility and reliability afforded by the use of hydraulicsteering control. It

is therefore an object of the present invention to disclosea. simple andeconomicalhydraulic system for the transmission of rotational motion.

Another Ob ect of the invention is to disclose such a system whosedriving unit and driven unit are made of substantially identical com-'ponent, parts, thus promoting economy of manuc ure- A further object isto disclose a hydraulic steering control system including means forsetting the rudder to cause the vessel to. continuously describe acircle of selected radius.

A still further object is to disclose a hydraulic steering controlsystem including means-for adjusting the calibration of Wheel andrudder.

These and other purposes will be clear from the following descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my control system mounted in a vessel,part of the stern being broken away.

Fig. 2 is, a side elevational view of a driving nit Fig. 3 is a frontelevational view of adriving unit talgen on line II1 III of Fig. 2.-

Fig. 4 is a SQGtional view of a driving unit taken on line Ill-1V ofFig. 3.

5 is an elevational view-partlyin section taken on lines V- V of Figs. 2and 4.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the hollow sleeve carrying the pistonthereon.

Fig, 7 is a side elevational view of the driven unit including therudder shaft.

Fig. 8 shows the valve and conduits consti tuting the cross-connectionbleeder means.

In general, my invention comprises one or more driving units, a drivenunit, conduits connecting the several units, and may include bellchamber means for maintaining pressure in the system andcross-connection bleeder means for permitting convenient periodiccalibration of wheel and rudder.

Referring in detail to Fig. 1, the vessel I is equipped with a drivingunit l l and a driven unit 12. One or more auxiliary driving units as atl3 may be connected into the conduits l4 and I by connecting conduits l6and ll. Also,-in the conduit system I may provide cross-con- 2 nectionbleeder means as at") and bell chamber accumulator means [9, thefunctionsof which latter two means will be described in detailhereinafter.

Fig. 2 illustrates-a preferred design of a driving unit and Wheel.Driving unit ll includes two arcuate members 26 and 2 l held together asby cap screws 22 and so arranged as to form an arcuate cylinder 23substantially circular in cross-section as seen'most clearly in Fig. l.

Piston 25 as shown in Fig. 6 is mounted on annular raised portion 26 ofhollow sleeve :21, the

sleeve in turn being fixed as by a key engaging keyway 28 to drivingshaft 29. The piston is arranged for sliding movement within cylindersuch movement being translated intorota tional movement of shaft 29. Twofaces 30 and Si areprovided on piston 25 and each face is equipped withgasket means 32 and 33 to provide a seal during the movement of piston 25 within cylinder 23;. Additional gasket means are provided at 3:1} and35 for sealing the sliding engagement between faces 36 and 3! of sleeve2? and the associated surfaces 39 and ill of arcuate members iii and 2I. Pipe tap connection d2 is provided for filling the entire systemwith.

liquid and is normally closed by pipe plug 43.

In order to provide greater convenience insteering I prefer to use apair of reduction ears between wheel ll and shaft 29. The larger of suchgears 35 is mounted on shaft 29 and is keyed thereto and meshes withgear 46 which is keyed to countershaft ll; on the other end ofcountershait 4? is mounted wheel 4i. Countershaft 4? is supported bybearing surface 43 Of the gear u i 9 nd w e 4. may be made. dem un ablefrom countersha'ft 4'! as by means of nut 83 threaded on the end ofcountershaft 47.

One arcuate member 2!; forming cylinder g3.

is provided with ports 5! and '51" at the ends of the arc, communicatingwith petcocks 52 and 5.2" which control the flow of liquid into or outof conduits it and is. lions when more than n driving unit is rovided inthe system, the petcocks associated with the driving units not used maybe closed in order to isolate such non-used unitsfrom the system.

In Fig. .7 it may be seen that a similar pe e E5 is provided at thepoint where each conduit arcuate member 2!. Said ears and 'boss es areformed in casting by elements attachable to the basic arcuate patternforming arcuate members 20 and 2|.

Thus it can be seen that I have provided a compact hydraulic controlsystem wherein the driven unit is substantially identical with thedriving unit and the arcuate cylindrical housing of each unit isconstructed of substantially identical arcuate members.

In order to compensate for loss of fluid occurring over a long periodand to maintain pressure in the system despite such loss I may provide abell chamber as at l9. Said chamber maintains pressure in the system bythe presence of air captured in the upper part thereof.

If, after considerable use of my device, the system becomes unbalancedso that the neutral or center position of the piston in a driving unitno longer corresponds to the neutral or center position of the piston ina driven unit, it may be necessary to calibrate the positions of the twopistons. In order to accomplish this I may provide cross-connectionbalancing or bleeder means l8, shown in detail in Fig. 8, includingvalve 12 and conduit lines 13 and M connecting with conduit lines I4 andI5. Valve .12 is normally closed but when it is desired to recalibratethe system the pistons of all driving units are placed in their centralposition, valve 12 is opened and rudder 58-is then adjusted to itscentral position. Valve 12 is then closed and the system is thusrestored to balance for continued operation.

The construction of thepiston assembly will be understood by referenceto Fig. 6. It can be seen that piston 25 is a section of a torus andincludes a downwardly projecting arm :8 which is received in hole 19radially disposed in annular raised portion 26 of hollow sleeve 2?. Saidarm is fixed in said hole by removable pin 80, whose axis is parallel tothe axis of hollow sleeve 21.

Thus I have disclosed a simple, easily manufactured hydraulic controlsystem for a vessel, doing away with all disadvantages associated withthe use of ropes, such as rotting, fraying, and the necessit ofproviding pulleys. It should be noted that additional wheels may beprovided in my system anywhere on the vessel, and any wheel orwheels maybe disassociated from the system by means of the petcocks provided witheach driving unit.

In fishing from a vessel, it is often desirable to circle a school offish for some time, and without continuous attention to the wheel. Thisresult is accomplished with ease by my system, since it is onlynecessary, after adjusting the wheel to the desired setting, to closeone or both petcocks associated with the wheel being used. The vesselwill then continue to circle without further manipulation of the wheel.

If it is desired to remove the gears in a driving unit for repair, or tosubstitute a different pair of gears, such removal may be easilyaccomplished without disturbing the hydraulic system. Gear housing 49 issecured to arcuate member 2| by capscrews facilitating removal of saidgear housing when desired. It is to be understood that instead of thesimple gearing illustrated, planetary gearing between the wheel shaft 41and the piston shaft 29 may be used. When such planetary gearing isemployed, the end of the wheel shaft 41 may extend into and be journaledin the end of the piston shaft 29, such piston shaft being provided witha suitable internal gear, whereas the wheel shaft carries a pinion,planetary gears being interposed between said pinion and internal ringgear.

Other minor changes in construction coming within the scope of theappended claims will occur to those skilled in the art. For example,although cup gaskets 30 have been illustrated, the movable member 25 maybe provided with 0- rings. The method of holding the piston on itssleeve 26 may be varied and the arm 18 instead of being integral withthe piston may, of course, be placed into the sleeve and extend into arecess of the pistonfor attachment thereto.

Although I have shown an embodiment of my invention wherein the alowablemovement of the piston is substantially degrees of arc, it is understoodthat such movement may be smaller or larger than that amount withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention.

It is understood that the description and figures herewith are exemplaryonly and that theinvention is to be interpretedin the light of theappended claims.

I claim:

1. In a hydraulic motion-transmitting system including at least onedriving unit and a driven unit inter-connected by conduits containing. avirtually noncompressiblepfiuid, the combination of z a single arcuatecylinder in each unit comprising two opposed arcuate members, saidcylinder being circular in cross-section; a shaft rotatably mounted ineach unit concentric with the arc formed by said. cylinder; a hollowsleeve surrounding and concentric with said shaft and rigidly fixedthereto; a radially projecting arm on said sleeve; a circular pistonsecured to the outer end of said arm and arranged for sliding movementwithin said cylinder; gasket means for sealing the sliding engagementbetween piston and cylinder and between said arm and cylinder; andconduit means for inter-connecting said units to transmit movement ofthe piston of a driving unit to the piston of the driven unit, saidconduit means including bell chamber means for maintaining pressure inthe system.

2. A hydraulic system in accordance with claim 1 wherein said conduitmeans include cross-connection bleeder means to permit adjusting theposition of the piston of one unit without afiecting the positions ofother pistons in the system.

3. In a hydraulic steering system a driving unit comprising an arcuatecylinder, a shaft rotatably mounted concentric with the are formed bythe cylinder, a piston slidably engaging the cylinder and arranged torotate with said shaft, and gasket means sealing the sliding contactbetween said piston and cylinder; a driven unit identical with saiddriving unit; and conduit means containing non-compressible fluidinterconnecting said driving and driven units, said conduit meansincluding cross-connection bleeder means for periodic recalibration ofdriving and driven units.

FRANK HAROLD SMITH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 625,352 Paidassy May 23, 1899976,907 Pagendarm Nov. 29, 1910 986,065 Janney Mar. 7, 1911

